Greenville-Banning Channel Project Explained

SMALL TURNOUT - BIG PROJECT
Last night, in the Costa Mesa City Council Chambers, a small group of residents heard from representatives of the Flood Control Design Section of the Orange County Public Works Department and City Staff about the plans for rehabilitation of a little over 3,000 linear feet of the Greenville-Banning Channel, which runs through Costa Mesa from the I-405 Freeway, across California Avenue to the Santa Ana River.

ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS
The project designer, Justin Golliher, guided the discussion and the PowerPoint presentation for the seven (7) residents who showed up for this meeting.  Approximately 250 homes received notices.  I only knew about it because of a press release issued by the City earlier in the day. Questions should be directed to Golliher at 714-647-3979

PART OF A STAGGERING BACKLOG
We learned that this project is only one in a $2 billion dollar backlog in work for the Public Works Department - which might take 90 years to complete.  The Flood Control group manages more than 370 miles of flood control channels throughout Orange County - more than the miles of roads the county manages.

 EROSION IS THE REASON
This project will require the replacement of the New Hampshire Avenue bridge in its entirety.  The California Avenue bridge will be untouched.   This project is necessary to rehabilitate a crumbling channel in which decades of erosion has taken its toll.  The entire length will receive some kind of repair, which will be designed to manage that proverbial 100 year flood.

FACTORS
Many factors were considered when planning this project, as listed on the slide below.

PERMITS
The permitting process is overwhelming, having to deal with many governmental entities.

8 MONTHS ONCE BEGUN
It is presumed that the permits might be obtained by December of this year.  The schedule below shows the anticipated time table, with completion optimistically planned for the winter months next year.

CALL THEM, NOT US!
I thought it was interesting that when members of the public asked about community outreach the officials indicated that the contractor would be in touch with them.  They made it clear that "issues" with the contruction during the process should be directed to the contractor.


NO STANDING WATER!

Clearly, the work needs to be done on that channel, which is certainly showing signs of possible failure if a large storm were to occur.  Questions were asked about standing water - there shouldn't be any.  That's an important issue since we hear more and more about mosquito-born illnesses lately.  County Vector Control will handle that problem.

Greenville-Banning Channel Meeting Tonight

SHORT NOTICE
Did you know about this?  I didn't know about this!

Here's the text of a press release distributed today by the City of Costa Mesa on this issue.

County to host meeting tonight about Greenville-Banning Channel project

Posted Date: 10/15/2014

 

The County of Orange Public Works agency will host a community meeting on Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive, regarding proposed improvements to the Greenville-Banning Channel to address erosion.

The improvements to the Greenville-Banning Channel--initially built in 1958 to alleviate flooding--will include widening parts of the channel bottom and lining the channel sides with concrete. The aging concrete lining located west of California Street and in place since the 1960’s will be replaced with new lining and extended to the top of the channel.

The estimated $8 million project is funded by the Orange County Flood Control District, and construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2015.

For more information regarding the meeting or project, contact Justin Golliher at (714) 647-3979.

WILL ATTEND AND REPORT
Well, as if there were not enough meetings to attend... I'll probably go and watch this one and report back.  There is no indication that this will be televised on CMTV... too bad... seems like the kind of event, in the right venue, to be televised.